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Our schools are not succeeding. |
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Our schools are excellent:
- In 2007, Charter Oak was one of the top 10 schools in CT in terms of improvement vs. prior year.
- In 2007, West Hartford was 28th out of 153 reporting districts in CT in terms of improvement among elementary schools vs. prior year.
- 93% of our kids go on to higher education, vs. 83% statewide
- The West Hartford graduation rate is 96% vs. statewide rate of 92%
- Our CMT scores are from 9 to 15 percentage points higher than the statewide average on EVERY measure.
- Last year Newsweek ranked both of our high schools among the top 1000 in the nation. Newsweek ranked Conard the highest performing school in Connecticut and placed Hall in the top ten.
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We spend too much on our schools. |
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Currently West Hartford is 84th out of 169 towns in per capita spending on students -- exactly at average. Thirty years ago we were in the top five. |
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West Hartford spends too much on administration and not enough on the classroom. |
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Out of 166 school districts, West Hartford is 135th in per capita spending on general administration expense. |
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There is a lot of fat in the school budget. |
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83% of our budget pays for people, the vast majority of which are teachers or providers of direct services to children. Other items include heating, electricity, bus transportation (all impacted by rising fuel and utility costs), as well as textbooks and supplies. The new school bus contract alone, which was last bid in 2000 when diesel fuel was $1.50 a gallon, will increase the budget by $890,000. |
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West Hartford teachers have gold-plated contracts. |
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Our salary and benefits packages are about average for Hartford County. Every year we lose teachers to other towns simply because they can earn more money elsewhere. |
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Class sizes are too small. A generation ago there were thirty kids in a class. |
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The Classroom of 2008 is quite different from the Classroom of 1978. Where it once was quite homogenous, West Hartford is now a wonderfully diverse community:
- 35% of our student population belongs to an ethnic minority.
- A generation ago many special education students were excluded from classrooms; today they are full participants.
- Decades ago everyone spoke English at home and at school; today 18% of our students speak one of 65 foreign languages as the primary means of communication in their homes.
- Thirty years ago there was no such thing as a CAPT test or a CMT test. The management of today's classroom is dramatically different than in years past, and the demands on our teachers are significant.
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